This image was scanned from my private collection
NO TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title: Mekik Oya Accessories- Flower Lace Made with Shuttles
Author/Designer: Kou Nanami
Format/Publication Date: TPB:2013
Publisher: Bunka Publishing Bureau, Japan
Page Count: 79
Book Dimensions(ht. x w.): 8" x 7 1/4"
ISBN: 9784579114665
SUMMARY- This one IS a tatting book. It has a similar cover to the book she did on Oya techniques. It's a cheerful and attractive fusion. The young model they used got the attractive part, but forgot her cheerful. She looked like she'd rather be anywhere but there in every single photo of her! Since this is the second book where the model they chose had less energy to add than a department store manikin, I have to conclude that was what the models were told to do. It actually pulled my attention away from what it was supposed to showcase - Ms. Nanami's designs. The photography overall was not what I've come to expect from a Japanese craft book, which is usually crisp and detail revealing. This was slightly off focus and detail obscuring. Despite that, the fusion looks very appealing - like finding cluny leaves, it adds a new layer of sophistication to an otherwise very traditional look. Tatting, once you know how to recognize it, doesn't look like anything else. Ms. Nanami's fusion adds a welcome visual surprise.
Without an English translation, I believe it would be extremely difficult to learn the technique from this book, even given the generous number of photo illustrations. And of course I want to try it for myself. Despite my grousing, this is an exciting book. I love watching designers slowly stretch the envelope of what the discipline of tatting encompasses. This has been happening over the last couple of decades in several countries, but nowhere more so than in Japan. This is just one more example. I look forward to seeing what else Ms. Nanami does.